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Wednesday, April 1, 2015

County budget would end enforcement of grass ordinance

The owner of this healthy lawn received a warning from a community association.

Local
lawns could be a lot messier next year, if the Board of Supervisors agrees with
a budget recommendation to eliminate enforcement of the grass ordinance. Some neighborhood
groups are concerned that could lead to declining property values, deteriorating
quality of life, and the proliferation of rodents and snakes.

In
an attempt to trim costs from Fairfax County’s $3.8 billion bloated budget, County
Executive Ed Long is looking at dropping a number of small programs that
together could add up to big savings. Other proposed cuts with an impact on Annandale
residents would be the closure of the Annandale Adult Day Care Center and
reduced bathroom maintenance at Green Spring Gardens.

The
advertised budget for 2016 would save $120,000 by discontinuing enforcement of
the grass ordinance. That’s part of Long’s effort to close an $89 million
shortfall caused in part by reduced revenue from commercial real estate taxes
and a generally sluggish economy throughout the region.

The
grass ordinance requires grass on residential plots of a half-acre or less to
be no taller than 12 inches. When the Department of Code Compliance (DCC) receives a
complaint about tall grass, it sends “seasonal engineering technicians” to look
at the lawn and educate the property owner.

The DCC receives approximately 1,800
grass complaints a year, equitably distributed
among the nine magisterial districts, the budget document states. Approximately
15 percent of the complaints lead to additional concerns about health, safety,
or property maintenance issues.

In
most cases, the property owner voluntarily complies. If the owner fails to cut the grass,
the county takes care of it and sends the owner a bill of at least $165. If
enforcement is eliminated, DCC would send letters to offending homeowners
but there would be no follow up.

The
North Springfield Civic Association, for example, passed a resolution calling for continuation of enforcement, calling the grass ordinance “one of the most
visible services that residents use to gauge the county’s commitment to quality
of life issues like clean, safe neighborhoods.” Ending
enforcement would threaten property values, the resolution states, and would
encourage neglectful behavior.

The Braddock District Council of Community Associations
has not taken a position because many of the group’s members are HOAs, which enforce
their own rules on lawn care, said BDC Chair Cliff Keenan. He’s also heard
from several members that agree with the need to cut county expenses and avoid
tax increases.

For civic associations without enforcement authority,
the grass ordinance is their only recourse to ensure homeowners maintain their
property, Keenan said. There’s also the concern that unkempt lawns will lead
to the spread of rats, mice, snakes, and vermin.

Even
Long acknowledged the impact, noting in the budget document, “Uncut grass is an
early indicator of potentially larger health and safety issues.”

According
to Long, “the principal intent of the program is the maintenance of quality of
life and neighborhood integrity.” Eliminating enforcement means DCC “will be
unable to perform inspections or contract to have violating properties mowed.”

Mason
Supervisor Penny Gross hasn’t decided where she stands on the grass ordinance,
according to an article in the Washington Post. “There are those who say, ‘I want to live how I want to live, and leave
me alone,’” she told the Post. “One person’s tall grass is somebody else’s lovely meadow.”

Public hearings on the advertised budget take place
April 7-9 at the Fairfax County Government Center. The Board of Supervisors
will mark up the budget on April 21 and approve a final budget on April 28. The
2016 fiscal year begins July 1.

What the heck is a "seasonal engineering technician". Send someone out with a ruler. Tell the owner that they need to cut their grass. That will do the trick.Enforcing laws is a cornerstone function of a government. The grass ordinance is a perfectly reasonable law. Penny Gross can take her "lovely meadow" comparison, and shove it up her &#(!@&. Many people in Mason District care about their neighborhoods being reasonably kept up, and we are tired of feeling completely unrepresented by her.

It is sad to watch what was once a great county go into such decline and unnecessarily. Guess because they could not keep the median strips grass cut the BOS figured they should just let the entire place go to hell.........one big tall grass meadow to cover up all the renters' vehicles parked on their front lawns.

$120,000 is nothing... a drop in the bucket. This is the game governments play. They cut popular, high profile programs that cost very little to "punish" their constituents for daring to complain about their taxes going up. Reducing library hours is another example of this ploy.

Where do Penny's primary election opponents stand on this issue? Does she support this law? Will Jessica Swanson support cutting funding to schools to help fund enforcement for this? Or would she proposed raising taxes?

the school system commands more than 50% of our tax dollars to serve about 30% of the county's population. I would like some of my tax dollars to support efforts to to maintain and improve the quality of all county residents. And frankly, I would be willing to pay more in taxes if I knew they weren't all going to be sucked up by the school system.

FCPS' asinine response to this is something along the lines of - "people don't move to a county for police or parks. They move to a county for good schools. So therefore, we deserve most of the budget."

Which is so ridiculously false. People like nice parks, good transportation, and a solid police force. 100% of county residents use some form of transportation, and we are abysmally behind in that department.

Transportation improvements and parks are critical, but it should be noted that good public schools benefit everybody, not just students and parents: Good schools have a positive impact on property values, for one thing, and companies want well-educated employees. Well-educated citizens are better able to contribute to the economy and less likely to need costly social services.

Join the conversation. The Annandale Blog covers redevelopment. land use, business openings and closings, schools, crime, politics (with a progressive viewpoint), transportation, recreation, and other issues in Annandale, Seven Corners, Bailey's Crossroads, Lincolnia, and other parts of the Mason District area of Fairfax County, VA.